http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
THE Democrats happen to have an earnest, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
leader in their midst-Sen. Russell Feingold-but he's still in the
doghouse for adhering to his principles and voting to confirm Attorney
General John Ashcroft despite vehemently opposing the former senator's
hard-right conservatism. Feingold, unlike his partner on campaign
finance reform, John McCain, really is that rare honest politician who's
as likely to be upended by scandal as Laura Bush. That Feingold, whose
liberal dogma is passionate and articulate, isn't given a starring role
as the voice of the minority party is one reason the Democrats appear so
bedraggled.

It's entirely possible that Bush will suffer congressional losses next
year-a sputtering economy, the energy crisis or some foreign policy
mishap could all contribute to a major defeat-but it won't be on account
of the Democrats offering a sober alternative. The threatened block on
judicial nominees-which Bush shrewdly derailed by nominating a first
group of 11 men and women, who are mostly conservative, but included a
couple of liberals and minorities-is dumb and simply reminds not only
the right-wing, but Republicans in general, of the repugnant smears
against Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and Ashcroft.

Now, Theodore Olson might be denied the position of solicitor general
because of his tangential association with The American Spectator and
its relentless (and over-the-top, in my opinion) demonization of Bill
Clinton. Democrats can take succor in Thomas Edsall's inconclusive
Washington Post article of May 10, which relied substantially on
disaffected Spectator staff writer David Brock for evidence against
Olson. As The Wall Street Journal editorialized last Friday, "The
'Arkansas Project' was an exercise of The American Spectator's First
Amendment rights, something much of the major media seems to think
applies only to itself."

But back to Peter Beinart, who's clueless when it comes to describing
conservatives. He writes about Norquist: "His real job is to host a
meeting every Wednesday that brings together every species of
conservative-gun nuts, home schoolers, anti-environmentalists, capital
gains tax cutters-to plot strategy." This naive characterization of
millions of Americans is an inexcusable blind spot for the editor of a
well-read, if small-circulation, political weekly. Gun nuts? This is the
elite Beltway idea of anyone who owns a gun and doesn't want his
constitutional rights taken away by a DC/Manhattan/Hollywood cabal of
alleged intellectuals who really do believe they know what's best for
the country's citizens.

Anti-environmentalists? Home schoolers? Capital gains tax cutters? I'm
surprised Beinart didn't add to his insect-like list of conservatives
other pejoratives like "Bible-belters," "free-traders," "country &
western music fans," and, to top it off, "pro-life crazies." It wouldn't
occur to an insulated young man like Beinart, who studied at Yale and
now lives in DC, that conservatives are also people who despise
excessive government regulation; thieving trial lawyers; crooked and
ineffectual union leaders; barely educated teachers; the phony populism
that Al Gore espoused last fall (while he courted "gun nuts" in swing
states like Michigan and Pennsylvania); and the politicians in those
private clubs known as the House of Representatives and the Senate who
insist on dumping taxpayers' money down the
toilet.

JWR contributor "Mugger" -- aka Russ Smith -- is the editor-in-chief and CEO of New York Press (www.nypress.com). Send your comments to him by clicking here.